A rich experience in design and visual arts inspired by the work of Marcelle Cahn...
During their holiday classes , (1) pupils newly arrived in France and from different cultural horizons who were attending special classes for newcomers (2) had the opportunity to make their own interpretations of handbags from the French luxury leathergoods company, Louis Vuitton.
They followed in the footsteps of Marcelle Cahn, the visual artist ; her work was only briefly introduced to the pupils so as not to influence them too strongly and to let their imagination work so that they would find their own language, their own grammar...so that unconsciously a relationship would be established between them and the artist from Strasbourg.
The pupils had at their disposal a wide variety of salvaged materials (different textured papers, old newspapers, exotic papers, partitions, cardboard...) and the patterns necessary for duplicating the handbags inspired by different Vuitton collections. Using as much time as they felt necessary, the pupils experimented on the pieces allowing them to create the handbags they had decided to reinterpret ; each one made progress , finding new things and new textures and following his or her inspiration whether consciously or unconsciously.
They were working to make everyday items beautiful.
Having done the basic work, they still had to put everything together... so the different elements were delicately pasted together, giving a three dimensional form to their carefully done work.
Their objects became a means of communication, a means for making acquaintances ; these pupils did not speak the same language, but they had invented a new one.
Each pupil worked at his /her own rhythm but they all helped one another quite naturally ; they drew inspiration from each other, paying homage to Marcelle Cahn and creating a bond between all of them.
And this is how the Lezay-Marnésia collection, loosely drawn from the work of Marcelle Cahn and Louis Vuitton, came to be...
Emilie Angebault, illustrator , contributor to Ecole Ouverte
(1) High schools (lycées) and junior high schools (collèges) can offer holiday classes (Ecole Ouverte) during school holidays and on Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays during the regular school weeks for youngsters and teenagers who never or rarely have the opportunity to go away on holidays.
(2) When foreign pupils arrive in France they study French intensively in special classes for newcomers.These children are regular participants in the holiday classes (Ecole Ouverte).
